Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Celebrating the Holocaust on Egyptian TV

As Barack Obama advised former Senator George Mitchell, whom he just appointed as a special envoy to help mediate the Arab-Israeli dispute, it's always useful to "start by listening" to what people on different sides of a conflict are saying.

Well, here's one of those voices--not the only one by any means, but one that deserves honest attention.

=> The very useful and informative Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) posted and translated a January 26 TV broadcast by the Egyptian cleric Amin Al-Ansari, who has a show on Al-Rahma TV.

This broadcast was apparently timed to air close to Holocaust Memorial Day. Sheikh Al-Ansari ran extensive Holocaust film footage and used it as a background for commentary and analysis. The Jews deserved it, of course, because they had "oppressed" the Germans and numerous other peoples, started both World Wars, caused the bombing and destruction of German cities in World War II, etc.

The world was dying – country and civilization was being annihilated. This is what the Jews did. The Germans were, of course, strong. When they realized that the Jews were behind all this, they took revenge on them. They were not weak, as the Muslims are today.

In one especially telling passage, Al-Ansari repeatedly emphasizes the "humiliation" of the Jewish victims--in a manner that has to be called somewhat pornographic but that is also, I would say, psychologically illuminating.

These are Jews who are being prepared to be burnt. Look, these are Jews dying of hunger or by gas. Look how they round them up and put them on trucks. Note the humiliation on his face, Allah be praised. [....]

Look what starvation [the Germans] inflicted upon them. Look what humiliation. These are people being buried alive. Does this look like a human being? [....] This child awaits his turn. Watch their humiliation. These are corpses, Allah be praised. The [Jews] are oppressors. They are being deported. [....] A German soldier will come now, and you will see a Jewish woman kissing his hand. Notice what humiliation, fear, and terror have struck her. See how much she is kissing his hand. Watch her humiliation.

This is what we hope will happen, but, Allah willing, at the hand of the Muslims.

Access to the MEMRI website is free, but it requires registration. People who don't like to register on websites can find this item posted by David T at Harry's Place (below).

=> Some highlights from the transcript:

Amin Al-Ansari: Let us examine the civil strife the Jews have caused throughout the world. Of course, we know what problems they caused the Muslims. They have always been like that, but in modern times, they only turned to the Muslims [relatively] late. They went around the world – to the East and West – because they love money, and the West was full of money – in England, France, Germany, and of course, in America, which was still a new country. This was 200 years ago. They focused on these places, and this is why they have spread in America and control the money. They immigrate to any place where there was money.

The Jews spread corruption in the land during World Wars I and II. [....] The corruption spread by the Jews was very great. Very great. It got to the point that the rulers themselves had no solution but to annihilate them. [....]

In a nutshell, the holocausts of the Jews in Germany were because of their own deeds. They were killing Germans, kindling civil strife, inciting the people against their rulers, and corrupting the peoples. [....] Let’s watch the holocaust that the Jews underwent, which were Allah’s way of wreaking vengeance upon them. Let’s watch what the German people, or the German army, did to them. This is, of course, a part of the corruption of Germany by the Jews.

The Germans were, of course, strong. When they realized that the Jews were behind all this, they took revenge on them. They were not weak, as the Muslims are today. They had something different in mind. Let’s watch what Germany did to Israel – or rather, to the Jews – so we can understand that there is no remedy for these people, other than imposing fear and terror on them.

There is one language that the Jews understand – the language of force. If you are stronger than them, they are afraid of you. [....] When the Germans revealed the treachery and the war of the Jews against them, and the fact that they were spreading corruption in their country – let us watch how oppressors are killed by the people they oppressed.

[....] These are corpses of dead humans and the shattered bones of Jews. Here we have a crematorium, in which the Jews were burnt. These are Jews who are being prepared to be burnt. Look, these are Jews dying of hunger or by gas. Look how they round them up and put them on trucks. Note the humiliation on his face, Allah be praised. “Abasement and humiliation were brought down upon them, and they became deserving of Allah’s wrath.”

Look what starvation [the Germans] inflicted upon them. Look what humiliation. These are people being buried alive. Does this look like a human being? He is placed in a ditch to be buried alive. This is a pile of bodies. [....] This child awaits his turn. Watch their humiliation. These are corpses, Allah be praised. The [Jews] are oppressors. They are being deported. [....] These are bodies, these are dead people, these are skulls. These are the bodies of the Jews being loaded like animals. [....] A German soldier will come now, and you will see a Jewish woman kissing his hand. Notice what humiliation, fear, and terror have struck her. See how much she is kissing his hand. Watch her humiliation.

This is what we hope will happen, but, Allah willing, at the hand of the Muslims.

And so on. It's worth reading the whole thing.

In statements of this sort that get translated into English, it is more common for such people to deny that the Holocaust ever happened, whereas Sheikh Al-Ansari acknowledges that it did happen--and dwells on it with relish--but explains that the Jews deserved it. However, while these two kinds of claims might appear on the surface to be logically incompatible, in practice one often slides into the other.

=> To pre-empt the usual evasions, red herrings, and attempts to change the subject, let me say that I'm sure not everyone in Egypt (and other Arab and Muslim countries) would agree with Sheik Al-Ansari on these matters. But it would also be misleading and dishonest to pretend that he is a completely isolated and idiosyncratic nut-job, and that the kind of anti-semitic discourse he is peddling here has no wider resonance or plausibility for his audience. (And I hope no one will try to claim that these ravings are just legitimate criticism of "Zionism.")

Many people tend to downplay the anti-Semitism in the Muslim world, or think it's understandable, or that they don't really mean it. Look at this. This is a television broadcast. It went on air just a couple of days ago. And, though it's more usual to see Holocaust denial, it's by no means one of a kind.

From MEMRI: Following are excerpts from a show featuring Egyptian cleric Amin Al-Ansari, which aired on Al-Rahma TV on January 26, 2009.Warning: The show contains extremely disturbing Holocaust footage.

Amin Al-Ansari: Let us examine the civil strife the Jews have caused throughout the world. Of course, we know what problems they caused the Muslims. They have always been like that, but in modern times, they only turned to the Muslims [relatively] late. They went around the world – to the East and West – because they love money, and the West was full of money – in England, France, Germany, and of course, in America, which was still a new country. This was 200 years ago. They focused on these places, and this is why they have spread in America and control the money. They immigrate to any place where there was money.

The Jews spread corruption in the land during World Wars I and II. Let me tell you a very short story, so that you understand their way of thinking. The Jews do not know how to climb from the bottom up. They do not want to meet poor people, and then climb up, in order to reach the rulers of any country. Instead, they go straight to the rulers.

In the 19th century, there was a man called Herzl, who was a scientist and had nothing to do with politics. What did this Theodor Herzl do? He used explosives to invent a weapon. He could have invented anything else – something that would benefit the world – but no, he had to invent explosives, bombs, and missiles. Annihilation underlies their ideology. This Theodor Herzl looked for the most powerful country in the world back then. It was England, which was occupying India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and so on. So he became close to the British prime minister, and said to him: I’ve invented something that could benefit you in your colonialist wars.

Balfour promised them a state for the Jews in the land of Palestine. So the Jews began channeling all their loyalty and support to England. They began traveling all over the world in support of England. What did they do? They waged World War I, and tried to crush all the forces that were fighting England, such as Germany and other countries. They spread corruption in the land – in Czechoslovakia, in Germany, and in the republics of the USSR.

The corruption spread by the Jews was very great. Very great. It got to the point that the rulers themselves had no solution but to annihilate them. This was said even by the rulers of America themselves. You see that America supports Israel, but this is partly because it hates and fears Israel, since the [Jews] are corruptors. Most of the U.S. rulers said to the American people: We’d better give them a place of their own, and keep them and their evil at bay from our European countries. They wanted to places them in a country of their own, far from anything to do with the European peoples.

In a nutshell, the holocausts of the Jews in Germany were because of their own deeds. They were killing Germans, kindling civil strife, inciting the people against their rulers, and corrupting the peoples. “Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it.” Let me show you what corruption they caused, and what damage they inflicted upon all the countries of the world – upon peoples and governments alike. Let’s watch the holocaust that the Jews underwent, which were Allah’s way of wreaking vengeance upon them. Let’s watch what the German people, or the German army, did to them. This is, of course, a part of the corruption of Germany by the Jews.

This is the Germany army. It is clear. These are children in the German army. Consecutive wars, which lasted many years, annihilated the people, so the Germans began using children as soldiers.

Look, this is Berlin. The German cities were bombed from all directions, because of the Jews, who were destroying countries… Observe the great similarity between Gaza and the German streets back then, even though Germany is a very large country.

These people like to spread corruption, and when they can’t, they look for those who can, and encourage them to do it. Back in those days, it was England that they encouraged to spread corruption. This is Germany, and this is the destruction it suffered in 1945.

Observe these cities, and think about what exactly is happening. These are the armies that Israel encouraged to corrupt and destroy the German army and country. See the rubble and the dead people on the ground. The world was dying – country and civilization was being annihilated. This is what the Jews did. The Germans were, of course, strong. When they realized that the Jews were behind all this, they took revenge on them. They were not weak, as the Muslims are today. They had something different in mind. Let’s watch what Germany did to Israel – or rather, to the Jews – so we can understand that there is no remedy for these people, other than imposing fear and terror on them.

There is one language that the Jews understand – the language of force. If you are stronger than them, they are afraid of you. That is why Allah said: “They fear you in their hearts more than Allah.” Allah said: “Prepare for them whatever force and steeds of war you can, to strike terror in the hearts of Allah’s enemies and your enemies.” The Jew is afraid of you more than he is afraid of God. When the Germans revealed the treachery and the war of the Jews against them, and the fact that they were spreading corruption in their country – let us watch how oppressors are killed by the people they oppressed.

What we have here are German graves, but let’s watch what the Germans do to the Jews. These are corpses of dead humans and the shattered bones of Jews. Here we have a crematorium, in which the Jews were burnt. These are Jews who are being prepared to be burnt. Look, these are Jews dying of hunger or by gas. Look how they round them up and put them on trucks. Note the humiliation on his face, Allah be praised. “Abasement and humiliation were brought down upon them, and they became deserving of Allah’s wrath.”

Look what starvation [the Germans] inflicted upon them. Look what humiliation. These are people being buried alive. Does this look like a human being? He is placed in a ditch to be buried alive. This is a pile of bodies. Ibn Mas’oud was right… Look, this is a barbed wire, used to crush their bodies. He and five others will be hanged with a single chain. Concentrate on this, my brothers. Watch this. Look, they are tying five heads together. These are bodies. Here they are drilling a hole in his back with a nail. This child awaits his turn. Watch their humiliation. These are corpses, Allah be praised. The [Jews] are oppressors. They are being deported. Ibn Mas’oud was right when he said: “All the oppressors are killed by those they oppress.” These are bodies, these are dead people, these are skulls. These are the bodies of the Jews being loaded like animals. Watch this tractor clearing away the corpses of the Jews, and these are the refugees awaiting their turn to be killed. A German soldier will come now, and you will see a Jewish woman kissing his hand. Notice what humiliation, fear, and terror have struck her. See how much she is kissing his hand. Watch her humiliation.

This is what we hope will happen, but, Allah willing, at the hand of the Muslims.

These are the bodies of the Jews. These are oppressors. Not so long before, they were fighting these soldiers, who are now standing and looking at their corpses.

Watch, my brothers. This is the German army. These are the tractors clearing away the bodies of the Jews, in order to put them in collective pits. These are the images that the Jews are now exploiting in order to make people feel sorry for them.

These holocausts and all that are a thing of the past. But they are renewing it again and again, and have even turned it into a holiday, which will be marked in a few days. They call it the Holocaust Holiday, in which they rekindle what happened to them, for the whole world to see, so that people will feel sorry for them.

They got the whole world on its feet over these holocausts, so that they can continue to extort people politically and financially forever. They like money.

There’s a story I heard about the Jews. One Jew took his son… This father kept looking for new supermarkets that were being opened, because they have freebies – gifts and stuff. Whenever a new supermarket opened, he would take his son to get the freebies. He said to his son: Whatever you find for free – take it. Never mind what it is – take it and put it in your pocket.

They got to a grocery store. The man welcomed them and showed them the merchandise. He showed the child the pistachio nuts, and said: Take some. The child said: No. The man asked him why, and the child said: My dad told me not to take anything from anyone. He was lying. The father was standing next to him, very angry. He was going crazy. Even the father told him to take some, but the child refused, and said: “Only if he hands them to me, I will take them.” The man said: Fine. He took a handful of pistachios, and the child stuffed them into his pockets. After they left, the father asked the son: “What was that all about? I told you not to take?! I told you to take everything they give.” The child said: “Dad, let me explain. I have small hands, and I can only take a little bit. But I let him give it to me with his large hands, and look how much I got.” The father said: “If you weren’t so cunning, I would have thought you might not be really Jewish.”

This Shaykh goes into the holocaust and why the Germans did it. The Jews and Kuffaar want us to believe that the Germans did the holocaust for no apparent reason except for pure racism. The fact of the matter is that the Jews caused major harm and destruction to Germany. Sure, Hitler and his associates will go down in history as racists - and he committed major corruption upon the earth - but there were many events that triggered the ethnic cleansing. Why do the teachers and historians avoid that?

The Kuffaar of MEMRITV made it appear that the Shaykh was supporting the holocaust; that’s not so. He was merely describing the holocaust history with brutal truth and comparing it to today. You can see that these Kuffaar of MEMRI mistranslated the word Subhan’Allah to mean “Praise be to Allah,” when in fact it doesn’t mean that. Instead, the word Alhamdullilah is used for that; but the Shaykh didn’t use that word. Subhan’Allah means “Glory be to Allah” and it is usually said when someone is amazed or astonished or taken aback by a certain event and it doesn’t necessarily imply a praise of that event. So for instance, if I see what’s going on in Gaza for the first time, I will be completely astonished and say Subhan’Allah; obviously, this is not a praise of what’s happening in Gaza, but only an expression that is widely used amongst Muslims. In this case, you can clearly tell the Shaykh was just astonished by the fact that today the Jews are extremely powerful and are massacring the Muslims, but just some odd years ago, they were the most humiliated people on earth.

Therefore, as you can see, MEMRI purposely mistranslated a word - a single word - to make it appear that the Shaykh completely supports the holocaust. This, of course, was done out of their evil intent as you can see thus with their video title: “Egyptian Cleric Justifies the Holocaust.” If you don’t already know, MEMRI happens to be owned by Jews and they strategically translate videos for the purpose of twisting the words of the Muslims; classic case was the ‘Kill Mickey Mouse‘ video. May Allah humiliate the Jews and wipe them off the planet.

For you Jews out there, I don’t support the holocaust, but I do question why people stay silent on why it happened in the first place.

It is no wonder why Adolf Hitler said,

“I could have killed all Jews in the world, but I left some of them so you will know why I was killing them.”

According to the New York Times, this website is run by a “a 21-year-old American named Samir Khan who produces his blog from his parents’ home in North Carolina”.

Born in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Khan was 7 when his family moved to New York City and settled into the Queens neighborhood of Maspeth.

He mirrored his teenage peers, from their slang to their baggy pants, until August 2001 when, at age 15, he said, he attended a weeklong summer camp at a mosque in Queens, which was sponsored by a fundamentalist but nonviolent group now known as the Islamic Organization of North America (IONA).

“They were teaching things about religion and brotherhood that captivated me,” Mr. Khan said. He said he went back to school knowing “what I wanted to do with my life: be a firm Muslim, a strong Muslim, a practicing Muslim.”

He prayed more regularly. He dressed more modestly. He stopped listening to music except for Soldiers of Allah, a Los Angeles hip-hop group, now defunct, whose tunes like “Bring Islam Back” continue to have worldwide appeal among militant youths.

He also befriended members of the Islamic Thinkers Society, a tiny group that promotes radical, nonviolent Islam by leafleting in Times Square and Jackson Heights, Queens.

About Me

Jeff Weintraub is a social & political theorist, political sociologist, and democratic socialist who has been teaching most recently at the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and the New School for Social Research, He was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University in 2015-2016 and a Research Associate at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College.
(Also an Affiliated Professor with the University of Haifa in Israel & an opponent of academic blacklists.)